Digital Commons Network^™

The Reliable Application Of Fingerprint Evidence, Brandon L. Garrett

Faculty Scholarship

In November 2017, a state appellate court did something almost unprecedented: It held that a trial judge made an error by admitting testimony on latent fingerprinting. In State v. McPhaul, the North Carolina appellate panel found error in admitting expert testimony, based on the lack of evidence that the expert reliably reached conclusions about the fingerprint evidence. The panel did not reverse the defendant's conviction, however, finding the error to be harmless. The ruling has broader significance for as-applied challenges to the forensic testimony commonly used in criminal cases, in which judges have often not carefully examined reliability either for …

Introduction: Forensic Fail, Brandon L. Garrett

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Pioneer In Forensic Science Reform: The Work Of Paul Giannelli, Brandon L. Garrett

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Judicial Intervention As Judicial Restraint, Guy-Uriel Charles, Luis E. Fuentes-Rohwer

Faculty Scholarship

This paper examines the Court's decision in Gil v. Whitford. It advances two claims. First, it provides a comprehensive account of the Court's skepticism of judicial supervision of democratic politics, an account that we call the narrative of nonintervention. It situates Gill within that account and argues that the Court's reluctance to intervene is a function of the Court's institutional calculus that it ought to protect its legitimacy and institutional capital when it engages in what look like political fights. Second, the paper provides an instrumentalist account for judicial intervention. It argues that the Court should intervene to prevent partisan …

Maduro Bonds, G. Mitu Gulati, Ugo Panizza

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Brief Of Professor Ernest A. Young As Amicus Curiae In Support Of Plaintiff Appellant Urging Reversal, Ernest A. Young

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

State Public-Law Litigation In An Age Of Polarization, Margaret H. Lemos, Ernest A. Young

Faculty Scholarship

Public-law litigation by state governments plays an increasingly prominent role in American governance. Although public lawsuits by state governments designed to challenge the validity or shape the content of national policy are not new, such suits have increased in number and salience over the last few decades — especially since the tobacco litigation of the late 1990s. Under the Obama and Trump Administrations, such suits have taken on a particularly partisan cast; “red” states have challenged the Affordable Care Act and President Obama’s immigration orders, for example, and “blue” states have challenged President Trump’s travel bans and attempts to roll …

Individual Autonomy In Corporate Law, Elisabeth De Fontenay

Faculty Scholarship

The field of corporate law is riven with competing visions of the corporation. This Article seeks to identify points of broad agreement by negative implication. It examines two developments in corporate law that have drawn widespread criticism from corporate law scholars: the Supreme Court's recognition of corporate religious rights in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby and the Nevada legislature's decision to eliminate mandatory fiduciary duties for corporate directors and officers. Despite their fundamental differences, both resulted in expanding individual rights or autonomy within the corporation-for shareholders and managers, respectively.

The visceral critiques aimed at these two developments suggest a broadly shared …

Will Delaware Be Different? An Empirical Study Of Tc Heartland And The Shift To Defendant Choice Of Venue, Ofer Eldar, Neel U. Sukhatme

Faculty Scholarship

Why do some venues evolve into litigation havens while others do not? Venues might compete for litigation for various reasons, such as enhancing their judges’ prestige and increasing revenues for the local bar. This competition is framed by the party that chooses the venue. Whether plaintiffs or defendants primarily choose venue is crucial because, we argue, the two scenarios are not symmetrical.

The Supreme Court’s recent decision in TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods illustrates this dynamic. There, the Court effectively shifted venue choice in many patent infringement cases from plaintiffs to corporate defendants. We use TC Heartland to empirically measure …

The Trafficking Victim Protection Act: The Best Hope For International Human Rights Litigation In The U.S. Courts?, Sara Sun Beale

Faculty Scholarship

The article focuses on uses Alien Tort Statute as a vehicle for litigating human rights abuses in both civil and criminal prosecutions in the U.S. Topics discussed include developments in International Criminal Law in addressing human rights violations; judicial attitudes that could affect the interpretation of the Trafficking Victim Protection Act; and Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain court case on the same.

Evidence-Informed Criminal Justice, Brandon L. Garrett

Faculty Scholarship

The American criminal justice system is at a turning point. For decades, as the rate of incarceration exploded, observers of the American criminal justice system criticized the enormous discretion wielded by key actors, particularly police and prosecutors, and the lack of empirical evidence that has informed that discretion. Since the 1967 President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice report, The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society, there has been broad awareness that the criminal system lacks empirically informed approaches. That report unsuccessfully called for a national research strategy, with an independent national criminal justice research institute, along …

Seeking An Objective For Regulating Insider Trading Through Texas Gulf Sulphur, James D. Cox

Faculty Scholarship

Data summarized in the opening of this article document that inside trading is a growth industry. And, as deals get ever bigger, the growth curve becomes steeper as more the data confirms intuition that the more who know about a good thing the more who will seek to harvest its benefits. Even though insider trading appears to have thrived during the fifty years after Texas Gulf Sulphur, we gather in this symposium to celebrate the decision. But why? As developed below, the Second Circuit’s landmark decision gave way to the Supreme Court’s erection of a fiduciary framework that this article …

Determining An Asset's Tax Basis In The Absence Of A Meaningful Transfer Tax Regime, Jay A. Soled, Richard L. Schmalbeck

Faculty Scholarship

Until recently, in those circumstances where there was a valuation range with respect to a particular asset, executors faced a choice: among estates subject to the estate tax, declaring a high value would increase the estate tax liability; however, due to the Internal Revenue Code's "basis equal to fair market value" rule applicable at death, declaring a low value would expose heirs to a greater capital gains tax on subsequent asset disposition. Because the estate tax rates were higher and that tax was immediate (as opposed to deferred until a later sale by the heir), executors typically minimized asset values, …

Precedent And The Semblance Of Law, Stephen E. Sachs

Faculty Scholarship

Like its author, Randy Kozel's *Settled Versus Right* is insightful, thoughtful, and kind, deeply committed to improving the world that it sees. But despite its upbeat tone, the book paints a dark picture of current law and the current Court. It depicts a society whose judges are, in a positive sense, *lawless* -- not because they disregard the law, but because they are without law, because they have no shared law to guide them. What they do share is an institution, a Court, whose commands are generally accepted. So *Settled Versus Right* makes the best of what we've got, reorienting …

Strategic Publication, Ben Grunwald

Faculty Scholarship

Under the standard account of judicial behavior when a panel of appellate court judges cannot agree on the outcome of a case, the panel has two options. First, it can publish a divided decision with a majority opinion and a dissent. Panels usually do not take this route because a dissent dramatically increases the probability of reversal. The second and more common option is for the panel to bargain and compromise over the reasoning of the decision and then publish a unanimous opinion.

This Article argues that a divided panel has a third option: strategic publication. The panel can choose …

The Second Amendment As Positive Law, Joseph Blocher, Darrell A.H. Miller

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Introduction: Symposium On “Forensics, Statistics, And Law”, Brandon L. Garrett

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Building Multilateral Anticorruption Enforcement: Analogies Between International Trade & Anti-Bribery Law, Rachel Brewster, Christine Dryden

Faculty Scholarship

In the last twenty years, the United States government has put substantial resources behind the fight against .foreign bribery by using the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) to prosecute unilaterally foreign and domestic companies who engage in corruption abroad. The United States is not entirely alone in this effort, but other countries have been far less vigorous in investing resources in investigations and prosecuting cases. Because of the unilateral and extraterritorial nature of FCPA prosecutions, these cases are sometimes controversial as foreign governments resist American influence in their commercial relations.

In response to this international tension, as well as a …

Testing The Easterlin Paradox: Results And Policy Implications, Edsel L. Beja Jr

Economics Department Faculty Publications

The Easterlin Paradox is about the contradiction between an evidence of a short-run relationship between happiness and income growth and no evidence of a long-run relationship between happiness and income growth. The paper argues that there is confirmation of the Easterlin Paradox when the magnitude of the estimated long-run relationship is practically equal to zero notwithstanding its statistical significance. The findings of the paper support the Easterlin Paradox.

Editor's Introduction, David M. Palfreyman

All Works

No abstract provided.

Bridging Gaps Between Conservation Action And Policy On Small Island Developing States – Case Analog Of The Republic Of Mauritius, Pricila Iranah

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Mauritius, a small island state in the Indian Ocean, is a biodiversity hotspot with highly threatened forest ecosystems. It is also a country where environmental and conservation programs have been successful in the past. However, the issue of funding has received relatively less attention and national park systems are chronically underfunded. As part of assessing the potential for local funding, we assessed the demand for forest recreation. Recreation in forest ecosystems is one of the cornerstones of modern nature-based tourism. Tourism is increasingly a favored tool to promote conservation of natural forests, especially in developing countries where conservation financing can …

In Their Own Words: Teachers Make Meaning Of Participation In A Community Of Practice, Laura Lee Ripley

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Recent studies on effective professional development in schools have paid attention to the concept of learning done in professional communities, but ignore teacher recommendations and voices. This case study focused on the meaning teachers made from participation in a community of practice in a school implementing reforms.

Founded in Wenger and Lave’s concept of the community of practice, defined as groups of people who come together routinely and who learn to do things better as a result, this study follows a community of practice in the face of a significant school reform where very little other professional development had been …

The Reported Experiences Of Adult To Adult Bullying In K-12 New Jersey Public Schools, Julia R. Mazzarella

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This is a qualitative study which investigated the reported experiences of adult to adult bullying by other certified school professionals in a K-12 New Jersey public school setting. The study focused on: 1.) How bullies bully; 2.) The behavioral, psychological, somatic, and career manifestations for the targets of bullying; 3.) The support or lack of support experienced by those who were bullied; 4.) Characteristics of school and school district cultures; and, 5.) Survival techniques used by the bullying targets.

The main findings of this study are described here. First, adult to adult bullying by professionals in schools can take many …

Rethinking Teaching In Stem Education In A Community College : Role Of Instructional Consultation And Digital Technologies, Shelley Chih-Hsian Kurland

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Community college faculty members educate almost half of all U.S. undergraduates, who are often more diverse and more academically underprepared when compared to undergraduate students who attend four-year institutions. In addition, faculty members in community colleges are facing increased accountability for meeting student learning outcomes, expectations to adjust their teaching practices to include active learning practices, and expectations to incorporate more technologies into the classroom. Faculty developers are one of the support structures that faculty members can look to in order to meet those challenges. A survey of literature in faculty development suggests that instructional consultation can play an important …

The African Open Science Platform: The Future Of Science And Science For The Future, African Academy Of Sciences, Academy Of Science Of South Africa, Committee On Data For Science And Technology, International Council For Science, National Research And Education Networks, Research Data Alliance, South African Department Of Science & Technology, National Research Foundation, Square Kilometre Array, Unesco

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

This document presents a draft strategy and makes the scientific case for the African Open Science Platform (AOSP). It is based on an expert group meeting held in Pretoria on 27-28 March 2018. Its purpose is to act as a framework for detailed, work on the creation of the Platform and as a basis for discussion at a stakeholder meeting to be held on 3-4 September 2018, which will lead to a definitive strategy for implementation from 2019. Expert group members at the March meeting were drawn from the following organisations: African Academy of Sciences (AAS), Academy of Science of …

How War Makes (And Unmakes) The Democratic State: Reading The Reluctant Fundamentalist And Exit West In A Populism Age, Aziz Z. Huq

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

War makes the state, and war makes the state democratic—or so the conventional wisdom holds. But the wars of the twenty-first century will have a distinct complexion from wars of the century just passed. As war and democracy alike change, their relationship alters. This book chapter examines that relationship through the lens of two recent novels by Mohsin Hamid, The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Exit West. The protagonists of these novels stand in some fashion for the two main vectors by which war is perceived to, and indeed does, work a change to the democratic state—the terrorist and the migrant. The …

An Exploratory Study On Ethical And Legal Issues Of Marketing Strategies In The Cigarette Industry: Perspectives On E-Cigarettes, Jason Bruce Kilby, Ismet Anitsal, Melek Meral Anitsal

AMTP Proceedings 2018

Cigarette and E-Cigarette companies use different marketing strategies to promote their product. Some of these marketing strategies could be considered by many to be both unethical as well as illegal. Many ethical and legal issues surround the cigarette industry and these same issues could be relevant in the emerging E-cigarette industry. This research organized cigarette industry behavior into a matrix where a behavior was classified on whether it was ethical, unethical, legal or illegal. In order for a behavior to be considered ethical it must meet the minimum standard of being legal except under moral exception. What is considered to …

Utilization Of Behavioral Health Services Among The Latino Population, Jennifer R. Mazzetti

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Limited research exists examining the effectiveness of an integrated primary care model of behavioral health service delivery among the Latino population. This descriptive pilot study addresses this gap in the literature by exploring the mechanisms that influence whether Latino integrated primary care patients who receive a Warm Hand-Off (WHO) will or will not pursue further Behavioral Health Services (BHS). Participants were recruited from Clinica Tepeyac, an integrated primary care clinic located in Denver, Colorado. Results showed that the majority of participants engaged in BHS at the suggestion of their medical provider, as opposed to initiating BHS involvement by their own …

Guidelines For Adapting Structural Family Therapy Approach For Immigrant Generation East Asian American Families, Shijia Liu

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

The author developed detailed guidelines for adapting the structural family therapy approach for therapists who work with immigrant east Asian American families. Due to different acculturation levels among family members, immigrant parents often have conflicts with their children, which have become an important reason why Asian American families seek mental health services. The review of both traditional east Asian family-related cultural values and European American cultural values illustrates the parenting emphases that vary to a great extent between these two broad cultural groups. The widely accepted child development theories, parenting theories, and family therapy approaches were developed primarily based on …

Cultural Adaptation To Suicide Prevention Interventions On College Campuses, Leisha Marie Chiles

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for adolescents and young adults ages 15 to 34. Given that college students are within that age range, it is believed they are at a similar risk. As college campuses try to address the suicide risk among their diverse student body, many have developed a public health approach, including the use of gatekeeper trainings. Many of these population-based interventions take a one-size fits all approach to suicide prevention, but with an increasingly diverse student population represented on college campuses this type of approach may fall short and fail to meet the cultural …